Method and means for making shoes and slippers



J1me 1943- DJ. CALDERAZZO' I 2,320,406

METHOD AND MEANS FORMAKING SHOES AND SLIPPERS Filed Dec. 2, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l CZ6z0, 0 /2o R INVENTOR 55000115 I Cd//f1zza June 1, 1943. H D. J. CALDERAZZO 2,320,406

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING SHOES AND SLIPPERS Filed Dec. 2, 1937 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY a i IZTO'RNEY Patented June 1, 1943 zsza os UNITED STATES mm OFFIC METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING SHOES AND SLIPPERS Dominick J. Calderazzo, Brooklyn, NQY}. Application December 2, 1937, Serial No. 177,684

1 Claim.

My invention relates to footwear. More particularly, my invention relates to a method and means for making non-turned slippers and shoes.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a highly improved method and means for constructing slippers or shoes of the character described, in which a novel shank reinforcement portion is incorporated with the insole member.

Another object of my invention is to provide a highly improved method and means for constructings'lippers or shoes of the character described in Which the insole and outsole are made from a single sole blank in such manner as to provide the relatively thinner insole with a plurality of cut out areas, to render the same relatively more flexible, together with an improved method for handling said insole when assemblin the same to prevent distortion and disalignment due to such cut out areas.

' Still another object of my invention is to provide a highly improved method and means for constructing slippers or shoes of the character described which shall be practical and simple in operation, and which comprises relatively few and simple parts, which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which. at the same time, shall constitute a general improvement in the art.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious andin part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consist in the fea-, tures of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplilied in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shownone of thevarious possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. l is a top plan View, partly in perspective, of a single sole rounded in accordance with my invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are top plan views, partly in perspective, of an insole and outsole formed by splitting the sole illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View of a shoe assembled in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of a portion of the shoe shown in Fig. 4, with the heel removed.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional View taken substantially on the line 56 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line L-l of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 3--8 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a bottom view of the insoleillustrating a further step in the construction thereof.

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of an insole similar to the insole shown in Fig. 2 but illustrating a modified form of my invention. I

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view stantially on the line I I--l l of Fig. 10. U

Fig. 12 is a bottom plan view of the insole shown in Fig. l0 illustrating a step in the process of construction thereof. v 1

Fig. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line l3-l3 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged cross-sectional View taken substantially on the line Ml4 of Fig. 12,

Fig. 15 is a View similar to Fig. 9 but illustrating a modified form of my'i'nvention, and

Fig. 16 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the assembled insole shown inFig. 15, but'illustrating the same in mounted position-ch a last, preparatory to attaching an upper thereto.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is disclosed a single sole 26 of full thickness which has been rounded from a sole blank in the customary manner. The sole 29 comprises a toe po tion 20a, a heel portion 26b and an interconnecting shank portion 200. The shank po'rtion 290 is provided with a protuberance 20d;thefunc tion and purpose of which will become apparent as the description proceeds. 'l'hesole-fi is split at a split line which is parallelto the flesh and grain sides thereof to form a relativelythin in sole 2|, the remaining portion 22 being adapted to serve as an outsole. The-insole Zlis severed from the sole 2c by-any suitable method well known to those skilled in the art, and in such manner whereby to provide an area 23; disposed at the ball of the outsole 22 and slightly raised above the top surface thereof. Simultaneous with the said severing operation there is pro?- vided a cut out area 24 in the insole 2| corre sponding to the-raised area 23 of the outsole ZZ'. Interconnecting the raised area' 23 with the ad? jacent surface of the outsole is an mclined'portion 23a, while an adjacent portion 24a surrounding the opening 24in the'insole 2| is correspondingly skived. It is thus seen that by the above de scribed splitting operation the insole 2! and the outsole 22 are complementary and Will interfit when the shoe is assembled.

It is noted that the insole 2| after being severed from the single sole 20 is provided with a protuberance 21d identical in peripheral contour with the protuberance 20d but relatively thinner. In accordance with my invention, however, such protuberance is not desired on the outsole 22 takensuband therefore the same is cut away after the severing operation, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Also the insole may be marginally cut to conformto the necessary relationship between the sizes of the insole 2| and outsole 22.

Underlying the shank and heel portions of the insole 2|, as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, is a stiffening or reinforcing member 25 made of paper board or similar suitable material, and provided with a protuberance 25d substantially in register with the protuberance 2ld of the insole 2|, Above the member 25 is disposed a strip 26 of steel or other suitable metal which has been pro-shaped to conform to the curve of the arch of the foot. One end 26a of the strip 26 is adapted to rest upon a block 21 of resilient material, such as sponge rubber or the like, and which may be fixed to the insole 2| in any suitable manner, such as for example by cementing. The strip is held in place by the member 25 which is shaped to conform thereto and which is permanently attached to the insole 2| by cementing or by any other suitable fastening means. The member 25 is provided with a notched portion 28 defining twoeiitensions 25a and 25b which are adapted to straddle a portion of the strip 25 adjacent the end 26a, to permit a certain amount of resilient free movement of the shank portion of the insole 2|. If desired, themember 25 may be skived adjacent the periphery thereof as shown at 250.

In Figs. to 16 there is disclosed a modified form of mounting for the resilient block 21. In this form a hole 29 is provided at about the area where the block 21 is mounted. The said hole 29 is provided with a skived portion 29a. adjacent the edge thereof and is adapted to receive therein a resilient block or pad 30 shaped to conform to the hole 29, said block 3|] being similar in function and effect to the block 21, but having the advantage of greater resilience, due to the hole 29.

The hole '29 may be provided by punching or stamping through the insole 2| or by being simultaneously formed with and in the same manner as the opening 24, i. e., during the splitting operation of the sole as hereinbefore described. Also, if desired, a hole 3| of suitable size and contour may be provided in the heel portion of the insole 2| either by punching or by being formed during the splitting process in the same manner as the forming of the opening 24. Into the hole 3| there is adapted to be fitted a resilient pad 32 to provide a resilient support for the heel of the'wearer. I

In assembling the shoe or slipper it has been found that due to the relative thinness of the ball and. toe portion of the insole 2|, which is furtherweakened by the opening 24, there is a tendencyfor the said insole 2| to become distorted or disaligned when handling. By my invention; therefore, I have discovered the following methodfor overcoming such disadvantages. As shown in Figs. and 16 of the drawings, after shaping and before positioning the insole 2| on the last L, I fasten to opposite sides of the insole 2|, thin'layers 34 and 35 made of stiff material, such as cardboard and the like and designed to overlie opposite sides of the opening 24, The

layers 34 and are temporarily attached to the insole 2| by suitable adhesive means so that they may easily be removed during the process of assembling the shoe, after they have served their purpose. It is thus seen that the insole 2| with the layers 34 and 35 properly applied will retain its rigidity and shape, and there will be no possibility of disalignment during the assembling process.

In assembling the shoe, the completely constructed insole 2|, as shown in Fig. 15, is positioned on a last L, as shown in Fig. 16. The inturned edges 33 of the upper U are then fastened to the insole 2| in any satisfactory manner such as by the nails 3! (see Fig. 4), or cement may be employed if desired, applied in the well known manner. The outsole 22 is then attached in any satisfactory manner customary in the art, such as by cementing, as shown. A heel H is then attached by such means as the nails 38, and the usual sock lining 4|] may then be positioned overlying the top surface of the insole 2|.

During the above described process of assembly, the temporary reinforcing layer 35 is removed just before the outsole 22 is attached, and the other layer 34 is removed just before the lining 40 is placed in position to finish off the inside of the shoe. To facilitate the attachment of the heel H, a portion of the outsole 22 corresponding to the area occupied by the heel H is thinned and provided with a cutaway margin as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, so that the inturned edge 36 of the upper U will lie substantially adjacent the edge of the cut away margin and substantially flush with the portion 45,

It is noted as in Fig. 6, that the protuberance 2|d of the insole 2| is so designed that when in assembled position in the shoe it will extend upwardly along one wall of the shank portion of the shoe to serve as an arch reinforcement. It is also noted that the extending portion 25d of the member 25 also serves to strengthen or reinforce the protuberance 2 d.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrated and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

The steps in the method of making a nonturned shoe or slipper which comprise rounding a sole of full thickness from a blank so as to provide a forepart portion, a heel portion and an interconnecting shank portion, said shank portion being provided with a protuberance extending laterally therefrom, splitting said sole to form a relatively thin insole having a cut out area in the ball thereof, and an outsole having a raised area complementary to said out out area, and removing the protuberance from the outsole.

DOMINICK J. CALDERAZZO. 

